


Words

by ravensurana



Series: Take Me By The Hand [3]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: ASL, Amaya knows what she wants, Deaf Character, F/F, Gren is a cinnamon roll, Janai is a useless lesbian, Rayla is a sass machine, Slow Burn, Unrepentant Fluff, actually KSL, enemies to friends to ???, you can't trust children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:55:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22517341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravensurana/pseuds/ravensurana
Summary: Amaya is working herself to exhaustion after the battle, and Janai wants to learn how to get her to stop.
Relationships: Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Take Me By The Hand [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1620031
Comments: 9
Kudos: 176





	Words

Janai smothered another yawn, peering over the edge of the Storm Spire at the lights of the camp far below, the dark shapes of the dragons spaced about its perimeter. The frantic energy of the day had begun to wind down at last, leaving a feeling in the air like everyone was collectively holding their breath, waiting for the next crisis to fall upon them.

It had taken hours to figure out the logistics of sheltering and feeding two armies, only one of which had time to gather supplies before beginning to march. To work out patrol schedules, and to collaborate on healers for the wounded. Even to deal with the inevitable culture clashes resulting from two armies, historically in perpetual war, suddenly being thrust into working alongside one another. Janai had already been forced to mediate more than half a dozen 'creative differences' between how her forces wished to set up and how the humans traditionally operated, and she anticipated another dozen issues cropping up before the dawn.

 _But it will be worth it, in the end,_ she thought, squinting to make out the colors patchworked across the ground below--her own red and the humans' blue, mingled together for the first time in a millennium. _These human rulers may be only children, but the strength of their convictions, their desire for peace--perhaps they could actually have a hope of ending this generations-long war._

She tried not to think about how, once she returned to Lux Aurea, she might also have to take up the mantle of royalty. About what chaos the city might have fallen into in her absence, the Council scrambling to regain order after the corruption of the Sunforge and the death of Queen Khessa. About how the armies below _still_ \--after hours of searching the battlefield--had not located the corpse of the false human king Viren, the dark mage who had brought about all this devastation.

Another yawn built in Janai's throat, but she forced it down, ignoring her burning eyes. She would need to sleep soon, but she was not yet ready to face the dark, to surrender herself to dreams. She'd been putting off her grief for the sake of the battle, but now in the calm and quiet of night, she was desperately afraid it was beginning to catch up to her.

Her hand drifted to her chin, thumb resting on its tip, and her two smaller fingers curled in. _Sister,_ she thought, lowering the gesture to meet her other hand, folded into the same shape.

The motion tugged at her heart, bringing up memories that Janai knew she would eventually have to confront, though she was nowhere near ready yet: the sight of Khessa lounging on her throne, gleaming like the Sun itself, as Janai brought the news of the human king's arrival. The scorn in Janai's sister's face as the Light revealed the man's true form, entirely tainted by dark magic.

Janai's own scream echoing in her ears as Khessa fell from the tower, her body disintegrating before she could reach the ground, and how trapped Janai had felt, pinned down, held back by a woman who'd been unable to stop her own sister's death, years before....

Janai turned, shaking her head to bring herself back to the present, and her gaze fell unerringly to the same place it had every time she'd had a moment to breathe tonight. The human general Amaya stood at the top of the Spire’s long, winding stairs, meeting with representatives from both armies, with elves called in by the Skywing mage, with the dragons and with envoys from Xadian towns and villages within a day's ride of the Spire. Her lieutenant stood beside her, his gaze intent on her every movement, his voice amplifying her words.

 _She's been directing the armies ever since the battle finished,_ Janai thought, guilt gnawing at her. Janai had tried to help, for the first few hours--but she was no diplomat at the best of times, and the grief she'd been trying to ignore kept biting into her thoughts, making her temper short and her words snappish. She'd finally left to take charge of the camps, far better able to deal with the intricacies of latrines and mealtimes than with placating a half-dozen disparate armies.

The elf speaking to Amaya turned to leave. Janai frowned as Amaya slumped, breathing deep and shaking out her arms. She must be growing exhausted after hours of communication, piled atop the stress and injury of the battle that dawn. Her lieutenant seemed to agree, pulling her aside, asking her something soft with nimble fingers and drawn-down brows.

Amaya shook her head, drawing her hand across her chest in a sharp gesture that even Janai could understand, then turned as another soldier with more rank than common sense approached her.

 _She's not going to stop until she collapses,_ Janai thought, worrying her lip, grateful for the distraction. She started across the tower's balcony, then slowed. Why did she think she would have any better luck than the woman's dear friend at getting her to rest for a time? Janai could already picture it--Amaya would turn away, deliberately ignoring the words she'd have to read from Janai's lips in the dim light, or grow impatient with Janai's fumbling letters. And her request would have no more impact coming from the woman's aide than his own concerns had. Janai had not known Amaya for long, but she had grown quite accustomed to the woman's stubborn nature during their short acquaintance.

 _But... she_ needs _to rest,_ Janai thought, her gaze lingering on Amaya's left side, where armor hid the bandages around her cracked ribs. _She won't heal if she doesn't rest, and we need her in top form. She's the best fighter these humans have, save for the mage-boy._

Recalling her own battles with the woman, Janai rubbed the back of her neck, a wry smile twisting her lips. _Perhaps the best fighter_ any _of us have._

At the thought of the mage-boy, an idea glimmered in Janai's mind. The boy was Amaya's nephew. Janai had watched the two of them speak that morning, their love for one another so obvious that she’d had to turn away, blinking back tears. Perhaps he would be willing to aid Janai in getting his aunt to rest--at least for a time.

With difficulty, Janai tore her gaze from Amaya's renewed gestures and strode into the Dragon Queen's lair, looking for the boy. Thankfully, he wasn't hard to spot. He sat against one wall, hand-in-hand with the Moonshadow elf he was clearly sweet on, laughing as his brother--true king of Katolis, Janai had gleaned--and the miraculously recovered Dragon Prince played under Queen Zubeia's watchful eye.

Janai halted, stunned into stillness for a moment at the sight--child leaders of Xadia and the human lands, united at last. This, if nothing else, gave Janai hope that their cause might not be as hopeless as it seemed. If such a few short weeks had brought so many people from both sides together....

She shook her head and stepped past the threshold. The Moonshadow elf-- _Rayla_ , she remembered now, the girl's name on the boy's fingers--turned at once, raising one eyebrow as Janai approached.

Janai halted before the pair of them, though the boy didn't look up until Janai bowed, hands crossed before her, as was befitting toward two of the warriors who had turned the tide of the battle this morn. "Greetings, Dragonguard Rayla," Janai said, then turned to the boy. "Your name is... Callum, young mage?" she asked. The boy nodded, wide-eyed. "I have a favor to ask of you."

"Uh, sure, of course," Callum said, trading a glance with Rayla. He pushed himself up, dusted off his trousers. "What d'you need?"

Janai raised an eyebrow at the boy's accent--by the Light, did all humans sound so _flat_ \--but said nothing until he'd stepped away from the rest of the group. "You know Amaya's language, yes?" she asked.

Callum blinked, looking around the room, as though he expected to see the general there with them. "Uh, yeah, why?"

Janai’s fingers itched to move after watching Amaya's all day. She brought up her hand to shoulder level, trying to remember how to shape it for the signs she wanted. "She needs to rest, and she will not listen to her--to Gren. How do you tell her 'you need rest'?"

As she spoke, her fingers moved, spelling out careful letters. Y-O-U-N, no, wait, that was T, she shook her hand and tried again, Y-O-U-N-E-E-D-R-E-S-T. Then she circled her first fingers before her, realized she'd gone the wrong direction, and hastily reversed the motion. Belatedly, she remembered the questioning expression, and drew her brows down as her head tilted to the side. _I'm so slow at this,_ she despaired, though she knew she couldn't realistically expect herself to learn a language so different from her native one with any speed.

Callum raised an eyebrow, watching her move, though he seemed more baffled than anything. "You do know you don't have to sign to her, right? She can see what you're saying."

"But she will simply ignore me if I do that," Janai argued. "She is too stubborn, too determined to keep running things by herself--but I bandaged her ribs earlier, and I know she is exhausted, and she needs to sleep, so I hoped if I spoke to her in her own language, it would startle her enough that she might actually heed my words."

The explanation sounded more and more foolish the more she spoke. Janai was grateful for the darkness of the room, hiding the redness of her cheeks.

A snort sounded from beside Janai. She scarcely kept herself from flinching as she turned to see Rayla standing beside Callum, wearing a dreadfully perceptive expression that made Janai want to defend herself, though she wasn't entirely certain what _from_. "You seem to be awfully worried about her," Rayla said, a wicked note to her Moonshadow lilt.

"She is a formidable warrior, and a capable ally," Janai argued, affronted by Rayla's implication--though the recollection of that breathless, heady moment she and Amaya had shared after the battle made her swallow hard. Still, Janai’s relationship with the general, such as it was, was none of this child’s business. "And she will be no good to us if she collapses from exhaustion."

"Sure," Rayla said, drawing the word out. Callum looked wide-eyed between the two elves. "You're just 'professionally' worried about the woman you've been sneaking peeks at all day."

Janai drew herself up, indignant. "I have not--" she began.

Rayla crossed her arms, giving Janai a knowing _look_ , as though Janai’s simple request had confirmed all the girl’s suspicions. How had one so young become so perceptive?

"--Been looking at her _all_ day," Janai finished, deflated. "I had to attend to things in the camp for much of the afternoon."

Callum nudged Rayla, whispering a little too loud, "Wait, what, are you serious?"

"Don't tell me your aunt makes eyes at all her soldiers like that," Rayla hissed to him, _her_ voice just loud enough to make it clear she was only whispering for effect. "And you told me what she said when they showed up--"

Callum brought one hand up to cover his mouth, his eyes wide. Janai regretted bringing any of this to the children's attention. "Oh, man, you're right!" he said, and gave Rayla a fondly foolish smile. "Guess it's catching," he said.

Janai certainly hoped ‘it’ wasn’t catching, if ‘it’ would lead to her making doe-eyes at--at anyone. _Light save me from teenagers in love,_ she thought, impatience biting at her. "Please answer my question," she said sharply, half-consciously circling one palm on her chest. Callum jumped, and Janai made a conscious effort to modulate her tone. "I wouldn’t have asked if it wasn’t important to me."

Callum smiled apologetically, then started signing, slow enough that Janai could follow along. "Tell her this," he said, and pointed at Janai. His first finger curled as he turned his palm downward, and he ducked his hand like a nod, then crossed his palms on his chest and visibly relaxed them. His entire body seemed looser with the motion. He pointed again to Janai, then tapped his chin with two fingers, jabbed a finger at his chest, pinched his thumb and second finger together, and pointed at Janai one final time.

Janai struggled to commit the gestures to memory. There were far more than she thought there ought to be, considering what she'd learned already from Amaya. The hands-on-chest sign was no doubt ‘rest’, but she couldn’t figure out how the second part related to it--

 _He’s still teasing me,_ Janai realized, her brows drawing down in a glare that clearly failed to intimidate Callum. She folded her arms and tapped one foot impatiently at him. "Very well, and what part of that was _you need rest_?"

Callum caught Rayla's gaze and gave her a shrug that somehow Janai could interpret as 'I tried'. "The first three signs," he said. Janai thought he sounded apologetic, through that terrible accent. Then his smile went impish. "But you should tell her the rest anyway."

"Thank you," Janai said, exasperated, though her hand tapped her chin in an unconscious echo of the words.

He nodded to her, his eyes crinkling, and his hand found Rayla's without either of them having to look at each other. Despite her irritation with the both of them, the simple gesture sent a flicker of hopeful warmth through Janai. _What kind of a world might we live in, moving forward, where humans and elves actually have the chance to get to know each other again?_

_A week ago, I wouldn’t have believed it. Wouldn’t have cared. But now...._

"You should probably get some rest, too," Callum said. Janai did not have the heart to glare at him this time. "It's been a long day for all of us."

Janai gave him a nod of respect. "Sleep well, then, young mage," she said, and nodded to Rayla as well. "As should you, Dragonguard."

Then she spun on her heel and strode from the room, seeking out Amaya.

She remained at the top of the stairs, blessedly alone now save for Gren. Amaya's back was pressed to the wall beside the stairs, her head tipped back, eyes squeezed shut.

Gren's eyes widened as Janai approached. He stepped aside, the same little smile on his lips that Callum had--by the Light, would _everyone_ make that assumption? Janai shook her head, torn between annoyance and an inexplicably fond impulse to smile back, and leaned in to tap Amaya on the shoulder.

Amaya opened her eyes at once, face serious, though her expression brightened the moment she caught sight of Janai. The sight warmed Janai's chest, and she brought up her hand, trying to form the gestures Callum had shown her--his right hand, her left. "You need rest," she said as her fingers said the same, just in case she'd made a mistake or Callum had tried to mislead her again.

A smile stretched across Amaya's face, and Janai felt her own lips twitching up as Amaya signed "Callum?"

Janai nodded and bobbed her fist. "I may have asked for his help," she confessed, rubbing the back of her neck. "And I might regret that choice."

Amaya laughed, glancing into the Spire with a fond shake of her head, and her smile softened. " _Missed him,_ " she spelled out, then signed, "They’re good boys." Janai’s heart twinged at the sincerity in her eyes.

Amaya grinned then, and glanced deliberately aside at Gren. Humor colored his voice as he echoed her words. "And I am resting. We’re the only ones here, and speaking with you is the farthest thing from work."

The unexpected sentiment sent a pleasant shiver through Janai. "You know that’s not what I mean," she said, folding her arms and giving Amaya a pointed look, though she knew the smile still tugging at her lips would soften her words.

To Janai’s surprise, Amaya’s own smile twisted, wry, almost self-deprecating. "You’re right," she said, the signs reluctant. "I work too hard, take on too much. I should have stopped earlier."

"It’s hard to step back and let someone else help, isn’t it?" Janai asked, glancing out toward the edge of the Spire, the soft glow of the camp far below.

Amaya nodded, following Janai’s gaze, her expression distant. The conversation faltered then, and Janai recalled the rest of Callum’s signs. She’d been reluctant to bring them up, but… they would probably amuse Amaya.

Janai tapped Amaya’s shoulder, drawing her gaze away from the land below. "Callum also said to tell you this," Janai said. She pointed to Amaya, then brought her fingers up to tap at her chin--a sign she now recognized as one she'd seen Amaya use several times. 

Amaya's eyes began to sparkle, her melancholy air melting away. By the end of the simple gestures, her smile was so wide her eyes had all but closed. Her fingers shaped into an L beside her face, shaking in a way that Janai knew _must_ mean laughter.

Janai ducked her head to hide a grin. Whatever Callum’s message had been, it had made Amaya smile. Janai still wasn’t certain what, exactly, she wanted from Amaya, but that smile....

Janai would do anything to see Amaya smile.

Amaya shook her head fondly. Her hands moved, repeating several of the same gestures--she pointed at herself, bumped her fists together twice with index fingers extended, rested one finger on her temple. Then she pointed to Janai and tapped her chin emphatically, her eyes bright, her teeth flashing in a delighted grin.

Janai jumped as Gren spoke up from beside her, his voice rich with amusement. "I think you’re pretty cute, too," he said.

No, _interpreted_ , Janai realized after a stunned half-second. She mapped words to signs, her eyes widening in shock as she realized what Callum had told her to say--and why. Emotions a jumble within her, she glanced aside, toward the tower--she’d thought the boy was teaching her something rude, perhaps, not how to _flirt_.

 _Light save me from teenage_ matchmakers _...._

She recalled, then, the other two times she’d seen Amaya sign "cute" to her, and let out a trembling breath. Just how long had Amaya been interested in Janai, while Janai tried desperately to deny what she felt for the human woman?

"Later," Amaya had told her that morning, at the base of the spire. And now was still not the time, here in the lair of the Dragon Queen. But, warmed by the promise in Amaya’s gaze, Janai thought that if she had any say in things, ‘later’ would be ‘soon’.

She met Amaya’s eyes, her insides still in turmoil, though one thing stood out to her--she couldn’t let this opportunity pass. "I stand by that," she said, with a boldness she didn’t quite feel. "You _are_ cute."

Amaya grinned, open-mouthed and lopsided. "I know," she signed.

Janai let out a startled laugh, warmth fizzing through her. She didn’t need to hear Gren to understand when Amaya signed, "I hope you said ‘thank you’," tipping her head toward the tower.

Janai ducked her head, but couldn't stop smiling. "Yes," she signed, then gestured to the stairs--and, by association, the camp below. She drew her hand down in front of her face, pinching it into "sleep", and raised her eyebrows in a question.

To her surprise, Amaya's smile slipped. "We should sleep here," she signed, gesturing toward the tower itself.

Janai raised an eyebrow, watching Amaya’s hands as she elaborated. Trying to match Gren’s voice to the few signs Janai recognized. "These past few days have been hard, for both of us. We’ll both sleep better away from the others."

Janai sucked in a breath at the reminder of what lurked, half-forgotten while she spoke with everyone, in the back of her mind. What she would have recalled the moment she lay down and tried to sleep. "I..." she began, but her words faltered at the look on Amaya's face: no pity, just compassion, and terrible knowledge. "Thank you," she signed at last.

Amaya turned to Gren, whose smile was so wide by now that Janai could scarcely see his freckles, and signed something quick and fluid. He bowed, one hand on his chest, and set off into the tower.

Amaya gestured Janai to fall into step beside her--and, as they walked together, Amaya nudged Janai’s hand with her own. Janai sucked in a sharp breath, her fingers weaving between Amaya’s as though with the ease of long practice, soft leather warm against her skin.

Gren met them in the inner chamber, on the far side of Zubeia from the children, and handed each of them a sleeping pallet. He spread his own out a thoughtful distance away, catching Janai’s gaze. "Good night," he signed to her, his eyes crinkling.

Janai ducked her head, regretfully tugging her hand free from Amaya’s. "Good night," she signed back. She turned to smooth her pallet across the stone, tucking away a secret smile as Amaya set down her own pallet not six feet away.

Janai stacked her armor beside the pillow and lay down, tugging the thin blanket up over herself. The stone was cool beneath her pallet, but as she caught one last glimpse of Amaya before her own eyes closed, Janai felt so warm that she scarcely cared.

_Perhaps there is a chance, for our two sides to find peace together...._


End file.
